Pine Tree Legal Assistance

Pine Tree Legal Assistance provides free civil legal aid in Maine. It helps low-income Maine residents solve non-criminal legal problems. To ask for help, call the main intake line at 207-942-8322 during its call-in hours: Mondays from 12pm to 2:30pm, and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 11:30am. Free legal information is also posted at ptla.org for anyone to use. The call-in hours are limited, so it helps to plan your call around one of those windows.

The program focuses on the problems that keep a family housed and stable. It helps with unsafe housing, evictions, and utilities, with public benefits like MaineCare, and with money, taxes, and debt, including help on federal income tax through its Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. Housing discrimination is on the list too. If your problem is about keeping a roof over your head or keeping your benefits, this is the right place to start. Housing cases in particular move quickly once a notice is filed, so reaching out early gives a lawyer the most room to help.

It is important to know what Pine Tree cannot take. It does not handle criminal cases, traffic tickets, or personal injury. It generally does not handle family law either, except for cases related to sexual assault or domestic violence. So if your issue is one of those, you may need a different kind of lawyer, and the intake staff can point you elsewhere. Knowing the scope up front saves time, so you can head straight to the right kind of help.

Eligibility depends on income and assets. As a program with these kinds of limits, Pine Tree may not be able to help people who are over the income and asset lines, or who have certain immigration statuses. Even so, if money is tight, it is worth applying rather than assuming you earn too much, because the intake staff will check. The limits are based on income and assets, so a household that is struggling to pay basic bills is often within range even if it does not feel that way.

Here is how intake works. When you call, a trained paralegal gathers your legal issue, your contact information, and your income and assets. A staff member then calls you back within 5 to 7 business days. If you need an interpreter, ask right away, and Pine Tree will provide one at no charge, so language does not have to be a barrier. Having your papers close by when the paralegal calls, such as any court notice or lease, helps the intake go faster.

Move fast, because help is limited. Each year Pine Tree works on more than 6,000 cases but gets over 10,000 requests, so demand is higher than what it can take. Call the intake line as soon as an eviction notice or court paper arrives, and dial 2-1-1 to find local rent funds that may clear a balance before a case gets worse. Keeping your phone on and your voicemail set up also matters, since the callback can come within about a week of your call.